1753 250 Years Ago

WASHINGTON BECOMES A SOLDIER

On October 31 Robert Dinwiddie, royal lieutenant governor of Virginia, dispatched the 21-year-old George Washington into the wilds of the Ohio territory on a delicate diplomatic mission. The French had begun building forts in the Ohio River Valley, which Virginia claimed for its own and was trying to settle. Washington’s mission was threefold: try to persuade the French to withdraw; gain the favor of the local Indians; and assess the military situation in the region.

The dispute had repercussions that extended well beyond Virginia. By the 1750s Britain had established settlements along most of the habitable portion of the Atlantic Coast. Yet they were hemmed in by the French, whose long, thin arc of settlements stretched from Quebec through the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River all the way to New Orleans. The Ohio territory was one of the few remaining places where the British had room to expand westward.

Washington was already known as an excellent horseman and a skillful surveyor, and these talents had led to his appointment as one of four adjutants of militia for the colony, with the rank of major. To assist him on his mission, he brought along Indian and French interpreters, a pioneer named Christopher Gist who had explored the region, and four other men. The winter journey would call on all of Washington’s talents as an out-doorsman, as the expedition overcame such perils as hostile Indians, swamps, steep mountain passes, chilling rain and snow, and a thorough soaking in an icy stream (which Washington survived, though Gist lost several toes to frostbite).

As a diplomat Washington was unsuccessful. The French dismissed his protests, telling him after a few glasses of wine “that it was their absolute Design to take possession of the Ohio, and by G– they would do it.” He did manage to secure a promise of friendship from a local Indian chief, and he gave Dinwiddie an account of his journey that the governor published to rally support. Word of Washington’s exploits reached as far as London, and his fame increased the following spring, when he bravely led a doomed expedition to establish a fort near present-day Pittsburgh.

George Washington’s first military career continued with a series of dreary frontier assignments commanding raw militia until an inability to gain favor with his superiors led to his resignation in 1758. From then on, he concentrated on being a Virginia gentleman until the political situation impelled him to take up his old profession once again.

Why do we need a national
nonprofit membership society for American history?

“Save America’s Treasures” has been totally eliminated—the largest Federal program supporting preservation of such treasures as the original Star Spangled Banner and George Washington’s tent.

65% of Americans don’t know what happened at the Constitutional Convention, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.

The “Teaching American History” grants—the largest Federal program supporting history education—have been completely eliminated.

Visits to the Top 20 Civil War battlefields have dropped in half from 1970 to 2009 according to official National Park Service statistics.

40% of Americans can’t identify whom we fought in World War II, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.

A quarter of Americans believe Congress shares power over U.S. foreign policy with the United Nations, according to a recent Annenberg survey.

“There is little that is more important for an American citizen to know than the history and traditions of his country,” John F. Kennedy wrote in American Heritage.

The “We the People Program,” which touched some 30 million students and 90,000 teachers over 25 years, has been completely eliminated.

Two-thirds of Americans could not correctly name Yorktown as the last major military action of the American Revolution, according to a recent national Gallup survey.

The National Heritage Areas and Scenic Byways program, the only major Federal program encouraging visits to historic places, has been completely eliminated in Congressional committee.